In the past decade, there has been a growing consensus around the elements necessary to succeed with students who have traditionally done poorly in school (Carlson, Shagle-Shah, & Ramirez, 1999; Carter, 2002; Holloway, 2004; Johnson & Asera, 1999). Those elements include: engaging curriculum, good teachers, clear goals, safe and orderly environment, high expectations, and good parental relations.

Effective leaders tend to focus their efforts, achieve a number of small wins, and systematically abandon what doesn't work in order to make time for the rest. Courageous leaders create clarity of focus around the issue of sustaining success for all students (Blankstein, 2004).

In The Answer to How Is Yes (2002), Peter Block explains that he is regularly faced with a barrage of how questions that serve as excuses for inaction. How much will it cost? How will we get the time? The hows overwhelm the whys, and inertia takes over.

The courageous leader, by contrast, gets to his or her own core (Blankstein, 2004) and helps others in the organization do the same, answering the deeper question, Why are we doing all of this? As Heifetz and Linsky (2002) put it, People are willing to make sacrifices if they see the reason why. . . People need to know the stakes are worth it  (p. 94).

By organizing people around a shared common purpose, the courageous leader makes the rest of the work a problem-solving endeavor rather than a constant struggle over values and priorities.

Sources

Blankstein, A. (2004). Failure is not an option: Six principles that guide student achievement in high-performing schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Block, Peter (2002). The answer to how is yes: Acting on what matters. San Francisco: Barrett-Koehler.

Carlson, K.G., Shagle-Shah, S., & Ramirez, M.D. (1999, October). Leave no child behind: An examination of Chicago's most improved schools and the leadership strategies behind them. Chicago: Chicago Schools Academic Accountability Council.

Carter, S.C. (2002). No excuses: Seven principles of low-income schools who set the standards for high achievement. Washington, D.C.: Heritage Foundation.

Heifetz, R. & Linsky, M. (2002). Leadership on the line: Staying alive through the dangers of leading. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Holloway, J. H. (2004, February). Closing the minority achievement gap in math. Educational Leadership, 61, 8486.

Johnson, J. F., & Asera, R. (Eds.). (1999). Hope for urban education. Austin: University of Texas, Charles A. Dana Center.